In addition to maintaining their streak, the Scorpions will be hoping to avoid a letdown after the biggest victory in their young history.

Winning in Puerto Rico was especially sweet as it was the Islanders who drubbed San Antonio 4-0 in the first home match in Scorpions history. The defeat dropped the fledgling franchise to 0-1-1 — far from a crippling start with 26 more league matches to play, but certainly not what the Scorpions had hoped.

Nine matches later, with the defense having tightened up and the offense starting to click, it might have been just what they needed.

“Maybe it was a blessing for us that it happened early,” goalkeeper Daryl Sattler said. “We're a new franchise. Learning how we all play took a little while, but we're in stride and we have yet to play our best.”

The Scorpions have given up five goals during their unbeaten streak, just one more than in that one Puerto Rico home match. Manager Tim Hankinson credits multiple factors: Tactical adjustments to keep the central midfield from wandering too far up the pitch, Sattler's sterling play since taking over full-time and old-fashioned experience.

Witness the Puerto Rico match, in which the Scorpions were able to call on a similar situation against Laredo in the U.S. Open Cup to survive after Walter Ramirez was shown a second yellow card before halftime.

Rather than simply nurse their 1-0 lead, the Scorpions doubled it with Pablo Campos' third goal in two matches. Hankinson said he doubts the Scorpions could have won under those circumstances earlier in the season.

“It takes time to grow as a team into having enough (experience) that you know to get through it and you believe you can get through it,” he said. “Playing a man down, obviously that's not an easy situation, but the guys responded fairly well.”

Filling in: Hankinson said the Scorpions should be able to overcome the absence of Ramirez, who will be serving a one-game mandatory suspension. The job will likely fall to Josue Soto or Hans Denissen.

“No question we'll miss him,” Hankinson said. “He's given us a big spark. But if you look at the teams that do well, they've got players who can step in. So we have choices.”